Reacting to the news that Labour runManchester Council spent £425,000 on an Alicia Keys’ concert last week, Councillor Simon Wheale, Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Manchester City Council, said:
“It is absolutely appalling that Manchester’s Labour Town Hall bosses have committed a monumental, ‘empire state’ scale of spending on one concert whilst putting the future of Sure Start Centres in doubt and whilst saying Lollipop Wardens must be laid off.
The proposal to spend nearly half a million pounds on this one event has not been put before a single Council Committee for discussion or approval. I will be writing to the Chief Executive of the City Council to ask which Labour Executive Councillor gave the go ahead for this crazy decision.
It is unbelievable that hundreds of thousands of pounds are now been spent on one night’s concert – surely with a brilliant star like Alicia Keys and a great venue like the Cathedral, private sponsors would have been queuing up to support MTV with this event without huge spending from Manchester Council taxpayers.”
Marc Ramsbottom, Lib Dem Candidate in the Manchester Central By-Election said: “Liberal Democrats in Manchester have called for a Musical Hall of Fame to be set up to promote tourism based on our musical heritage, on a permanent basis, at minimal cost, within one of our existing or forthcoming facilities. This far cheaper alternative was turned down by Manchester Labour Council chiefs.”
John Leech, Lib Dem MP for Manchester Withington, said: “If the council has £425,000 to spend they should spend it on front line services, or perhaps encouraging Manchester’s music talent.
“To spend £425,000 subsidising MTV, who have 0.1 per cent of the UK market, is a complete waste of money.
“This shows that Manchester’s Labour council has completely the wrong priorities.”
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